Armenia

  In Armenia, MSF is working with the staff of the national tuberculosis (TB) programme in tackling drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). In the 1990s, as a result of patients not completing TB treatment or using drugs incorrectly, resistant forms of tuberculosis emerged. In 2005, an MSF team started working in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, assisting doctors with diagnosis and treatment of the various forms of DR-TB. Regular TB treatment involves around six months of medication.  Drug-resistant forms of TB require up to two years of treatment, which is expensive and is not always easily available.  Treatment usually starts with a period of hospitalisation, where patients are closely monitored.  Once they return...